DATELINE NEW YORK: Folk dance in Manhattan (11/08/98)

DATELINE NEW YORK: Folk dance in Manhattan

by Helen Smindak

Two American folk-dance companies brought the exuberant dances and music of Central and Eastern Europe to the heart of Manhattan in October, along with the spirited and energetic dances of Ukraine.

The Duquesne University Tamburitzans of Pittsburgh, currently criss-crossing the U.S. with weekend and holiday appearances, staged a lively concert at the Fashion Institute of Technology on October 17. A week later, the European Folk Festival put on its annual show at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, presenting the Syzokryli Ukrainian Dancers of New York and six other folk ensembles under the aegis of the New York-based Slavic Heritage Council of America.

Both companies were a joy to watch, their presentations replete with a variety of movement and sound, stunning choreography and dazzling costumes. It was obvious that the performers were also enjoying themselves, smiling, whooping and whistling as they skipped, hopped, shuffled, stomped, leaped and whirled through their paces.

Though the two groups provided similar fare, the Tamburitzans offered near-professional expertise and a large company that was able to include several large group numbers in a highly varied program. The European Festival performers, in their part, dished out warmth and passion sparked by national feeling; the members of the participating groups are dedicated folk dancers and singers who have devoted many years to studying and preserving the culture of their ancestors. Neither company should be missed: if you have the chance, go see them and be carried away by their enthusiasm and vitality.

A whirlwind tour

The Tamburitzans took their viewers on a whirlwind tour that included the Balkan states that used to make up the country known as Yugoslavia (Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia and Vojvodyna); Eastern Europe - Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine, as well as Greece and Macedonia, and even Azerbaijan.

Ukraine was represented by a suite of Hutsul dances that included the Arkan, a men's line dance performed to the calls of the leader; "Maryna," a ritual walking dance, or "khorovid," showing young women casting wildflower wreaths on the river, and the Kolomyika, a fast-paced group dance typical of the Carpathian Mountain region.

Compared to last year's exciting Ukrainian contribution - a suite of dances that included several popular folk dances culminating in a spellbinding Hopak - the Hutsul dances lacked luster. Although the audience gave warm approbation, a touch more precision and liveliness would have truly invigorated the presentation. Both suites were choreographed by Richard Hladio (now the pastor of St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Hamilton, Ontario) while he was a student at Duquesne University.

Ballads from Croatia and Serbia lamenting the sadness of moving away from home and of losing a lover to a rival included an instrumental interlude presented in the grand orchestral style that has bought acclaim to the Tamburitzans for over 60 years.

A circle-dance tune from Vojvodyna turned the spotlight on the tambura, a small mandolin-like instrument, and the tamburas (tamburitza players) from whom the group takes its name. The kankles, a Lithuanian stringed instrument with a harp-like sound, the flute, a small wooden flute from Serbia, and other exotic instruments took their turn in the limelight.

Furious Gypsy dances from Hungary and Romania contrasted two regional styles which retained the essential improvisational elements that are the hallmark of Gypsy dancing. The Hungarian style was marked by a competition dance among males and the vocal bass, a scat-like rhythmic improvisation to which the dancers performed. In the Transvylvanian style, couples performed syncopated, complicated dance movements to Romanian-style music.

Sultry songs from Greece accompanied by the music of the Greek national instrument, the bouzoukee, and the pounding rhythms of Macedonian music played on the gaide (goatskin bagpipes) and tupan (drum) were fascinating.

The company's large ensemble excelled in a playful romp through the Slovak countryside. Carefree young people took part in a scene of frivolity, the women's pleated skirts billowing as they twirled through a dance from eastern Slovakia's Zemplin county.

Presenting dances of Azerbaijan, the women's dance ensemble crated the illusion of floating like graceful swans across a serene lake (the trick lies in using the knees to isolate movement). In another segment, the women employed the subtle hand gestures for which female dancers of the Caucasus and Central Asia are renowned.

A rousing finale from Bulgaria, "Springtime in the Vineyard," celebrated with song and dance the special day of "Trifon Zarezan" (cutting of the grapevine buds).

Members of the Tamburitzans ensemble, which began 62 years ago at Duquesne University as a 14-member, all-male group known as the Slavonic Tamburitza Orchestra, undergo intensive training with musicians and choreographers from around the world. Attending Duquesne as full-time scholarship students selected on the basis of outstanding musical talents and academic ability, they receive most of their training at a three-and-a-half-week summer camp, where they learn and rehearse a completely new show every year.

This year's contingent of students of Ukrainian heritage in the Tamburitzans' ranks includes Larysa Halaway, Lydia Kurylas, Peter Osyf and Justin Greenwald.

Lighting up Lincoln Center

The lights came up at Alice Tully Hall and a spontaneous burst of applause rose from the audience at the resplendent scene: 24 smiling, handsome young men and women in brilliant red and white costumes poised in striking formation and ready to open the European Folk Festival with a traditional Ukrainian welcoming dance.

With the first bars of music, the Syzokryli Ukrainian Dancers of New York swept into motion, maneuvering gracefully and with marvelous precision through complex patterns choreographed by their director, Roma Pryma Bohachevsky. The men's group sequence featured synchronized high kicks and astonishing squat steps. The women, holding embroidered ritual cloths ("rushnyky") between outstretched hands, created two rotating wheels whose rim oscillated up and down for a very pretty effect. The traditional presentation of bread and salt, symbolizing wealth and prosperity, came at the end of the dance.

Later in the program, the Syzokryli dancers appeared in "Bereznianka," a flirtatious number from Ukraine's Transcarpathian region choreographed by Andriy Cybyk, an assistant instructor of the Roma Pryma Bohachevsky Dance Studio. Highlighting courtship, the springtime dance found the men waving small maypoles above their heads to attract the attention of their brides-to-be.

Bestowing on the evening the sounds and colors of their unique cultures were other folk dance and orchestral troupes - the Bulgarian Bosilek ensemble, the Serbian Dukati ensemble, the Macedonian Goce Deloev ensemble, the Macedonian folk orchestra Izgori, the Slovak Limbora ensemble and the Polish American Folk Dance Company.

The Goce Deloev troupe performed an ancient women's ritual dance associated with Macedonian wedding festivities, then delivered more punch further down the line with its Povardarije Suite - rich flowing dances from Macedonian Vardar River valley featuring lively, fast-passed footwork. The Macedonian folk orchestra, in a separate appearance, contributed an enjoyable set of village-style vocal and instrumental numbers.

An extreme contrast came with a Serbian women's dance whose only music was created by the rhythm of the dancers' feet and the melodious clinking of gold coins on their costumes. This "silent" dance was born when Serbian gatherings, music and dance were outlawed during 500 years of Ottoman rule.

From the Limbora ensemble came the rhythmic footwork and cheerful hand-clapping characteristic of dances from central Slovakia and later in the program, a merry Sariska Polka celebrating the end of a busy harvest season in northern Slovakia.

Singer Petrana Koutcheva and her four-woman ensemble introduced Bosilek's colorful re-creation of entertainment performed by young Bulgarian women during Lent, when dancing on the village square was forbidden.

Two of Poland's five national dances - the Oberek and the Krakowiak - were given buoyant performances by the Polish dancers as they swung around the stage in flamboyant costumes, signing and dancing in polka tempo.

Winding up the show in an explosion of color and energy with Ukraine's national dance, the Hopak, the Syzokryli dancers drew round after round of applause with their artistry and technique. Acrobatic tricks, prysidky and sword play by the men and dazzling spins by the women featured several soloists, including Mr. Cybyk, Markian Kopystianskyj, Yosyf Syvenkij, Orlando Pagan, Peter Fil, Krissy Izak and Dora Pastushak.

Mrs. Pryma Bohachevsky, who took bows with other directors after the grand finale that brought all the performing groups on stage, has been conducting her dance studio in New York for the past 35 years. She also teaches several classes in New Jersey and upstate New York. This year marks the 25th anniversary of her Ukrainian Dance Workshop at the Verkhovyna resort in Glen Spey, N.Y.

The European Folk Festival was produced by George Tomov, director of the Bosilek Bulgarian Folk Dance Ensemble, who commented: "We are not all professionals, but we are doing an excellent job of exposing American audiences to our European culture."

The festival is presented annually by the Slavic Heritage Council of America, whose president is Lydia S. Demko of Forest Hills, Queens. The council is dedicated to the presentation of authentic Slavic culture through art exhibits, lectures and the annual folk festival.

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